Nearly a decade ago, one Latter-day Saint sister endured the unthinkable for a mother—the loss of her son to suicide. After years of heartache and struggling with tremendous guilt, suffering, and "what ifs," this sister found a sweet peace in the temple.

Q: In 2008 the Young Women General Presidency called for a “return to virtue” and added the value into the Young Women theme. What inspired you to add this value? How do you think this addition will—and how have you seen it so far—impact the lives of LDS young women everywhere?

Ancient scripture writers often used the literary pattern of paronomasia (word plays and word puns) to convey significant theological messages (see hereand here). Bible and Book of Mormon authors used names of individuals as a means to teach core principles. If we could read the original Hebrew and Egyptian texts of the Book of Mormon, we’d find names repeated thematically throughout the text. Just as a modern persuasive writer today will repeat their thesis statement in multiple ways throughout their writing, so too, ancient prophets used names and derivatives of names to reinforce in meaningful ways the major idea they wished for readers to see in the text.

In the midst of my emotional distress, the story of Elijah and the juniper tree taught me it’s OK to rest.

Editor's note: Our bi-weekly Friday column, “Found in the footnotes,” explores some of the footnotes from remarks given by General Authorities and General Officers of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

While as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we are taught to prepare for the second coming of Jesus Christ, we don't have to anxiously obsess over it.

Conference Talk

Fiona Givens was born in Nairobi, educated in British convent schools, and converted to the LDS church in Frankfurt-am-Main. She left for BYU two years after her conversion and met her husband, Terryl, the first day of class. In the middle of raising her children she decided to go back to school, graduating with from the University of Richmond with degrees in French and German, followed by a graduate degree in European history. She taught French and German at Patrick Henry High School near Ashland, VA. After seven years of 5a.m.-11p.m days, she felt impressed to stop and begin collaborating with her husband on The God Who Weeps, Crucible of Doubt, and The Christ who Heals. She has been invited to speak at firesides and women’s conferences in the U.S. and abroad. She feels most at home in water—be it pool, lake or sea and on holiday with her ever-expanding family.

When Dusty first came in contact with anti-Mormon literature, he had no idea that his desire to refute it would eventually lead him to become a vehement persecutor of the Church he once loved. What does it take to come back from the precipice of lost faith? Dusty’s unique story of belief lost and found is a reminder that the Savior’s atonement reaches for us even in our seemingly unreachable places.

My Lord He Calls Me: Stories of Faith by Black American Latter-day Saints edited by Alice Faulkner Burch celebrates the stories of Black Latter-day Saints. It’s an essay compilation by active Black American members of the Church whose ancestors were brought to the United States from Africa and enslaved. Because it's Black History month, we wanted to hear about their conversion stories, what life is like as a Black Latter-day Saint, and why they choose to remain in the Church. You will be inspired by the faith, testimony, endurance, wisdom, and spiritual strength of these faithful Saints.